


ventilations

by eruriotica (minxiebutt)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Space, Other, humans as possessions, just self indulgent unfinished work, light and fluffy, not interspecies, shameless world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minxiebutt/pseuds/eruriotica
Summary: Mike and Erwin take in an abandoned human right before a deep space voyage.





	ventilations

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know if i will continue this; it was written to make me feel better during a tough chapter of black cat bone. if you want to see more, consider yelling at me in the comments.

It's an unspoken rule that humans are, under absolutely no circumstances, to be abandoned. It traumatises them and stunts their bonding with whomever rehomes them-- not to mention, it's just plain cruel. They're not cheap creatures to begin with, most needing a minimum of fifteen earth years before they're able to be taken from their parents and be useful aboard a ship.

 

Because of their tiny stature, humans are good at wiggling through ducts and engine valves to fix problems or chase out rodent infestations. Their stomachs are delicate, so the rodents usually have to be cooked first, but humans are happy to eat them afterward. 

 

Erwin has never had his own human, but he did grow up around shippers that did, so he has a basic, far away knowledge of their needs. Upon seeing the box in the alley with a lone human, Erwin is quick to investigate.

 

“Wait,” Mike says, grabbing his arm, pointing to the written script on the box: _free-_ _vicious- bites._

 

“What, a little thing like that?” Erwin says, dismissing the warning. Humans are small, barely knee-height, and this abandoned one looks even littler than average. 

 

But sure enough, as Erwin gets close enough to touch the little human, it slaps away his hand and growls.

 

“Don't touch me with your filthy fucking hands,” it snaps.

 

Erwin is taken aback for a moment, and then he smiles wide. 

 

;

 

The human is all bark and no bite. Erwin carries it in its box all the way back to the ship while it grumbles and curses. 

 

“What's your name?” Erwin asks after the hatch closes and they're in privacy. “How old are you?”

 

The little human is oddly coloured. Because of their sensitive skin, most breeders administer UV treatments to build their tolerance and darken their skin, but this human is pale as a white dwarf. Its eyes are like fine comet trails, too, and hair to rival the void of space.

 

“Levi.” The human draws in on himself, smaller in his box. “I'm fifteen earth years.”

 

“You're just a baby!” Erwin suddenly feels upset. This human, this  _ Levi _ , should only just now be settling in with a ship, and instead, he's been abandoned already. Erwin has half a mind to persecute whoever originally purchased Levi, but when he scans him, there's no chip reading. 

 

“Woooie, Erwin,” Mike chuckles. “Found you a li’l breedin’ mill human.”

 

That explains the pale skin, then. With humans being expensive pets to have, of course there are underhanded businesses, cutting the cost in every way possible. That would explain why ‘vicious’ was written in the box-- most of those humans end up very unstable from their squalid living conditions. 

 

“I'll need to take you to the veterinarian,” Erwin says. “You need shots, at least one dose of UV, and a chip.”

 

“I don't want a chip.”

 

“Either that or a collar.”

 

“Fine. I'll take the chip.”

 

“Levi,” Erwin says. “Do you remember where you're from? We need to report breeding mills. They're illegal.”

 

The human only shrugs, looking thoroughly uninterested. “I'm hungry, feed me.”

 

Erwin’s brows furrow as he looks to Mike, who is stifling his laughter. “Well, this is your home now. You can feed yourself.”

 

Levi takes that as an invitation to explore and jumps down from the scanner, landing on his feet and quickly disappearing deeper into the ship. 

 

;

 

The veterinarian sees them late in the afternoon and she has all sorts of information on caring for humans-- specifically, rehabbing them. The first dose of UV will carry Levi over to when they dock next in Trappist, but he will need a dose at least monthly until he's caught up. Humans being delicate and susceptible to a variety of ailments, Levi receives a bulk vaccine to guard against the variety of ailments that he may come in contact with. 

 

“This will make him sick for a few days, so keep him warm and wrapped up in bedding. Give him lots of physical contact until he's better,” the vet explains, one of a hundred pieces of advice that Erwin tries desperately to memorise. Good thing Mike went along. 

 

Levi gets his chip planted in the middle of his back. Humans have a bad habit of scratching their thin skin, and usually the middle of the back is unreachable. Usually. The vet sends them with mittens, too.

 

;

 

A day into the voyage over to the neighbouring star system, Levi falls terribly ill. Erwin pours himself through the pamphlets of information over and over, but it seems that everything recommended for comforting humans makes Levi growl and swat. Apparently, he becomes so fed up with Erwin’s attempts that he holes up inside the ventilation system’s galley output for an entire night. 

 

“I don’t understand!” Erwin whispers in frustration when he comes to the galley late in the artificial night cycle to find Mike leaning back in a recliner, Levi curled up tightly, his head poking out of the neck of Mike’s shirt.

 

“Y’re tryin’ to touch him, ya gotta let him come on to ya,” Mike drawls, half asleep, antlers resting against the wall to hold his head up. “Give him time. Humans got more emotional fluctuation than us.”

 

;

 

Gifts are one of the five human love languages. The other love languages include attention, touch, services, as well as one other one Erwin cannot remember, and then there’s the possibility that a human may convey their love in a combination of languages,  _ and _ in addition to that, humans may show love in a way different than they receive.

 

‘Emotional fluctuation’, Erwin’s dappled  _ ass. _ Just the human complexity of love is too much for him to understand, he does not want to think of how confusing an endless amount of emotion will be. Tending Levi is going to be a lot more than Erwin anticipated, but luckily, Mike is here to suffer with him.

 

And Mike is fairing way better with the little human.

 

Trappist will serve as their temporary home until Levi is completely cleared by a veterinarian for deep space expeditions. He needs several more vaccines and UV shots, as well as an inhibitor for weightless sickness. Humans are such fragile creatures, but the companionship they offer, as well as a plethora of other valuable evolutionary skills, cannot be compared. Even on intuition alone, no other intergalactic species can stand a chance.

 

But by white dwarves, are they expensive. And Mike catches on that Levi has a bit of a soft spot for gifts, meaning their first expedition is going to have to be a long one to make up for the investments. 

 

“Stop sweatin’,” Mike chides him, rubbing his antlers against Erwin’s own. Human stores are built with their tiny stature in mind, meaning all the stags can do is wait outside for Levi to bring his purchase to the front to be paid for. The billboard on the side of the earth store is playing an advertisement about enrichment to keep human brains growing and learning, something about puzzles and skill sets.

 

Back on the ship, Levi scrabbles onto Erwin’s lap and makes a scowl. “What’s the thing you and Mike keep doing?”

 

Erwin tilts his head at him. “What thing?”

 

“Touching your horns together.”

 

“Oh, rubbing antlers. It’s how we display calming affection.” Before Erwin even finishes speaking, Levi is reaching up with one hand, running it along the parts of Erwin’s crown that he can reach. 

 

“They’re fuzzy.”

 

“It’s the feelers,” Erwin simplifies. “They take in environmental information and I process it on a subconscious level. Still, it’s nothing like your ‘gut feeling’ that you get.”

 

Levi looks skeptical. “Really?”

 

“They only pull information transmitted by air. Temperature, movement, those things. But it is without intuition. I cannot be warned of danger.”

 

“Does it feel good when you rub them together?”

 

“It is not as much sensation as it is pressure that feels good,” Erwin explains. Levi hoists himself up on Erwin’s shoulders and then climbs up into the cradle of the antlers. Erwin can feel him wiggle to get comfortable, squirming here and there until he’s arranged in a suitable fashion.

 

“This okay?”

 

Erwin is grinning widely, amazed that Levi initiated  _ this _ contact between them. “Yes, Levi, it’s wonderful.”

 

;

 

This time, when the vaccines and UV make Levi sick, he’s comfortable enough with both stags that they can trade him off like parents working in shifts, one of them always on the ship with their ill little human. There’s plenty of time later for Levi to venture through the port and get comfortable. Right now, healing is his top priority. 

 

Mike runs a hot sink full of water down in the galley and bathes Levi at exactly twelve hour intervals, quick to wrap him up afterward to keep him from losing heat. 

 

“Didn’t have any stag onesies,” Erwin says next time he boards their ship. “So I got one of the other options.”

 

From the earth store package, Erwin takes out a brown pile of fur, and when he shakes it out, it looks like the fur of an tanuki, which is exactly what it is mimicking.

 

“It’s a tanuki onesie,” he beams like a proud parent. “They sell onesies so a human can match its owners. Oh, and I didn’t want Levi getting cold.”

 

“Did you order a stag onesie, too?”

 

Erwin nods and Mike grins at him.

 

;;;

 

“More,” the human demands as he drops the large, empty shell on his plate. Levi calls the onesies ridiculous but he wears them anyway, keeping the hood up to retain more heat. Wherever Levi was bred and raised must have forgone standard earth food, as well, because Levi could stomach all sorts of things that Erwin had been cautioned against. He waits patiently as Erwin serves him another cornucopia and then he digs in wholeheartedly, eating every piece of vegetation down to the last leafy green. 

 

They enjoy their last meal docked at port, and then they confidently head out for deep space. 


End file.
